GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Speedy Deal Locks Down 183,000-SF Building

The logistics operator, Mega Gulf Coast Freight Co., is taking over 830 SW 14th St. in Grand Prairie's section of the Great Southwest Industrial District. It was occupying 1905 110th St., also in Grand Prairie, when Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. sold it to BCGG Real Estate Co. of Kansas City, KS. Tax records show the new owner is an affiliate of Arrow Speed Warehouse Inc., which is ramping up to move from 10614 King William Dr. in Dallas. The automotive parts distributor will occupy half of the 101,839-sf structure and lease the balance.

Brokers confirm Mega Gulf Coast was under pressure to vacate the recently sold building although it had a few months to go on its lease. Rob Riner, First Industrial's regional director, says Mega Gulf Coast was in part of the office/warehouse when he bought it in 2003 and expanded them to a full-building lease shortly before it was sold.

With the clock ticking, Mega Gulf Coast did a quick survey in the Great Southwest before opting for a building emptied about four months ago in Heller Industrial Park. The structure was on the market for $2 per sf. When talks ended, the rate was "pretty close to that," Pete Richardson with Henry S. Miller Commercial in Dallas tells GlobeSt.com. "It's not a typical logistics lease. It's for the long, long, long term." And, he adds, the deal closed with a minimal amount of tenant improvements.

Mega Gulf Coast's broker, Chris Delzell, also with Henry S. Miller Commercial, says three weeks went into locking down another location. "It was amazingly quick," he says. Mega Gulf Coast's headquarters will remain at 1002 Fountain Pkwy., according to Delzell.

The Arrow Speed distribution team expects to move in within two weeks to the Southwest 14th Street space. It is exiting a 133,979-sf warehouse owned by EastGroup Properties Inc. of Jackson, MS. Trey Fricke, Conrad Madsen and Walter Floyd with NAI Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell in Fort Worth represented Arrow Speed in the acquisition and are marketing its extra space for $3.20 per sf.